


Tell Me How You Really Feel

by grapeflavoredorange



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Completed, Gen, Light Angst, Oneshot, Strained Relationship, a closer look at akira and sojiro's relationship, and just the beginning of the game in general, sojiro's kind of an asshole to akira tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-26 18:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30110487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grapeflavoredorange/pseuds/grapeflavoredorange
Summary: Sojiro's "tough love" doesn't come off very well, and Akira wonders why he's taken him in at all.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira & Sakura Sojiro
Comments: 2
Kudos: 60





	Tell Me How You Really Feel

“I’ll throw you to the curb if you cause any trouble.”

“I’ve taken in a real headache waiting to happen, haven’t I?”

“You tried to be some sort of savior and ended up getting arrested for it? Seems like you got what you deserved for meddling in business between two adults.”

_ What did I do to piss this guy off so much? _

Akira wasn’t expecting to be welcomed into Tokyo with open arms, but the not-so-subtle resentment coming from his guardian was pretty hard-hitting nonetheless. He understood the dislike coming from the other students at Shujin, with his record having been leaked, but he hadn’t done much to warrant the anger and dislike that he felt whenever Sojiro looked at him. 

It was made more apparent one night when Sojiro surprised Akira by asking him to help him with the cafe. Confused and surprised, Akira decided to help him, but after a few minutes he began to wonder if this was just another opportunity for Sojiro to be rude to him. 

“You’re not causing any trouble, are you?”

Akira thought for a moment and tried to think of how to answer. He certainly had been causing trouble, if you counted wreaking havoc in an alternate dimension based around distorted human cognition, but there was no way he was telling Sojiro that. Instead, he just shook his head and said nothing. “Good,” Sojiro said gruffly. “I’ve gotta report to your probation officer twice a month, you know. It’s already a huge pain in the ass, so don’t go making it even worse for me.” Akira opened his mouth to say something, but Sojiro interrupted him. “You can go and get yourself killed if you want, but don’t go dragging me into your messes. The last thing this world needs is more idiots like you roaming around.”

He stopped to take a drag on his cigarette while Akira looked at the floor, trying to process what he had just been told. He already knew that Sojiro didn’t like him, but this was becoming unnecessary. “Um, I’m sorry if I did anything,” Akira started, trying to steer the conversation away from becoming a full lecture. “I just wanted to come down here and help y-”

Suddenly, before Akira could finish his sentence, Sojiro’s phone rang. “Hold that thought,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket. Akira noticed him smile slightly when he saw who was calling. “Hello?” His voice sounded much softer and kinder. “Yeah, I’m heading out now. Sorry about that.” A short pause, then he continued. “I know. The usual, right? Okay. I’ll see you soon.” He hung up, put his phone back in his pocket, then looked back at Akira, suddenly scowling. “As you can tell, I’m pretty damn busy both in my work and private life. Now, if you could lend a hand, that would be great.” 

Akira didn’t have a chance to answer. Sojiro turned around and left without another word. Akira took this as his cue to turn off the lights and go upstairs to bed, but he was too lost in thought to do anything yet. How could Sojiro spend an entire five minutes berating him and talking about how much of a problem he was, then suddenly ask for his help? Despite having made plans to hang out with his friends tomorrow, Akira suddenly felt very lonely, almost as much as he had felt when he first arrived in Tokyo. He said nothing to Morgana as he got ready for bed, and quietly turned over and closed his eyes after turning off the light. Sojiro had been so kind and almost gentle with whoever he was on the phone with, and then immediately cold and uncaring towards Akira the moment he hung up, as if a switch had been flipped. It seemed like Sojiro  _ was  _ capable of being nice to people. 

Everyone except him.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i just wanted to start this off by saying that THIS IS NOT SOJIRO BASHING. me and blue-lothus (aka tenbuhourin) were having a conversation about how rude sojiro is to akira for no reason at the beginning of the game-- I KNOW he eventually apologizes for it, but that's not what this is about.
> 
> what inspired me to write this in the first place was this message: "...when you start Sojiro’s link, and he tells akira how he wouldn’t even care if akira got himself killed, and on the middle of that conversation, he picks up the phone when futaba calls him and he’s this kind and attentive dad and imagine how that looked to akira like wow, sojiro isn’t like this to everyone it’s just me?" it made me think about the early parts of sojiro's confidant, and how he really had no business being that rude to akira at the beginning of the game when all he really did was come home late a few times. 
> 
> anyways, if you liked this, please leave a kudos/comment! thanks for reading!


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